ACE-72138 1/72 9P122 (AT-3 Sagger) Soviet ATGM Vehicle model kit

Ace 1/72 9P122 (AT-3 Sagger) Soviet ATGM Vehicle model kit. Pic.1

The 9P122 ATGM system was developed in 1968 and became the definitive ATGM version of the BRDM-2 armored car series. The 9P122 launch vehicle entered service with the Soviet Army at the end of 1968 as a replacement for the 2P32, which was based on the original BRDM vehicle. The 9P122 was fitted with a retractable firing mechanism, the overhead roof of which also formed the roof armor of the launch vehicle. Six 9M14M Malyutka M (better known in the West for many years as the AT-3 Sagger) missiles were mounted under the roof, and when not in use the mechanism was hydraulically lowered into the fighting compartment. In an emergency, the launcher mechanism could be manually raised. Eight reload missiles were stowed within the fighting compartment, which was a major improvement over previous ATGM systems. The missile operator sat in the front right of the vehicle with a small fire control panel in front of his position. The 9M14M had an effective anti-armor range from 500m to 3,000m, with the capability to defeat 41 Omm of armor at 0° incidence. The missiles were controlled in flight by a trailing wire which was both more economical and less vulnerable to interference than its predecessors. The 9M14M missiles were launched from within the 9P122 by the vehicle missile operator/commander; using a tracking sight in the front right of the fighting compartment roof. An experienced operator and crew could expect to achieve a maximum rate of fire of three missiles per minute. A remote control unit also allowed the missiles to be fired and tracked remotely at a distance of up to eighty meters from the vehicle. This resulted in difficulties in tracking the missiles, increasing the minimum range to 800m. This would have proved particularly difficult in any combat against NATO in Europe, where tank engagement ranges would have been in general at or under 1,000m. With its inability to fire on the move and relatively thin armor, the 9P122 was not designed for direct engagements with tanks but rather to provide long range ATGM support to Soviet Tank Divisions and Motorized Rifle Divisions.
The 9P122 was first used in combat during the 1973 Arab-Israeli conflict (The Yom Kippur War), where it served with Egyptian and Syrian forces. The system, along with its suitcase-launched infantry version, caused havoc with Israeli tank formations when first encountered in an ambush engagement on 6th October 1973.
The 9P122 was a relatively cheap and simple mobile anti-tank system compared to other missile systems in contemporary Russian service. As such, it was also widely exported, being sold to many countries including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yugoslavia, in addition to the usual Warsaw Pact clientele of the Soviet Union.